


The Unreachable

by merin_b



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-21 19:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3702945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merin_b/pseuds/merin_b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Pre-apocalypse] Lilianne 'Lily' Jones is the biggest rebel of her high school. She quickly becomes the new Queen Bee of her class. Scandal after scandal, Lily almost gets herself expelled. Though this behavior has a reason to it. When Lily manages to make yet another enemy, things get ugly. However soon they realize they aren't so different from one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

> **Lily**

The drizzling rain tapped softly on the window. When she looked next to her outside, she saw the other students getting out of their cars. Even though her first class was about to begin, she remaint steated while occasionally flickering the burnt up ashes from her cigarette.

After first period ended, Lily decided it was time to get out and do what she had to do; furfill another stupid fucking useless day at this school. It honestly didn't matter to her, about whether she would be suspended or not for being late again. It was always the same drill; be a shit student, get kicked out of high school, transfer to another foster family. It had become a habit. A  _bad_  one.

The girl looked in her side mirror and combed her hair with her fingers. She smiled to herself, which was also another bad habit of her; pretending to be someone she obviously wasn't. 

What use did it have, to make actual friends, when she would be kicked out soon anyway?

Lily opened the car door and grabbed her backpack. She unzipped her leather jacket and walked towards the school.

The sudden sound of a roaring car caused her to turn around. Lily halted in her tracks and watched as how the person got out of the car. A leather jacket, cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, ripped jeans and army boots; it could be no one other then Daryl Dixon. Lily smirked and licked her lips. "Nice ride, redneck." she said mockingly as she nodded at the dirty pick up, that was in even a wores shape than her own car. The boy turned around when he heard her voice. "Shut yer mouth bitch, don'tcha dare call me that!" was the frustrated answer she received. Lily rolled her eyes. "What,  _redneck_?" she repeated sheepish.

Daryl paced towards her, though Lily didn't attempt to run away or whatsoever. She felt his grasp around both her arms. "Ya got somethin' ya wann' say ta me, ya do it after school, got it? I ain't here ta play knight 'n princess with ya, so ya best shut yer damn skank mouth." he growled dangerously. Lily opened her mouth and scowled. "What did you just call me?" she said quietly. This time, it was Daryl who smirked. "What,  _skank_? Shouldn't be a new thing to ya, should it? Since all ya ever do 's screwin' around with dem seniors—"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, because Lily had already punched him on his nose. Daryl growled and stumbled backwards as he released her. He looked at her, eyes spitting fire. "I'm just goin' ta pretend that didn' happen." he said outraged as he pinched his nose. Lily glared daggers at him. "Well, I see your _nose_  doesn't agree with that." 

This time, it was Lily who got punched. She grasped lower lip, that was now bleeding. 

"Ms. Jones and Mr. Dixon, what in the  _hell_ 's is the meaning behind all of this?!"

They both looked up at the English teacher, Mr. Jackson. Neither of them answered. 

"Follow me, please." he commanded, clearly annoyed.

* * *

The envelope in her hands felt heavier than a rock. Lily stood in her backyard and stared up to the windows. The curtains were closed, which was logic since it was already around 2 AM. All this time, she hadn't done anything besides walking and driving.

Her teacher had been very clear this afternoon; one more strike and she was out. Regardless of the fact that she didn't care, she knew her foster parents wouldn't be too happy with her. This time, something felt different. _Why?_  she wondered, frustrated. It wasn't different than any school she had previously been to; another stupid high school with new stupid kids to dominate. She'd tell herself that she didn't care, and that she only did it because her so called 'friends' could help her out in times of need. 

Lily sighed when she felt the touch of raindrops on her skin.  _Great._  She grabbed the lighter out of her pocket and stared at the letter, that she was supposed to hand over to her parents, before setting it on fire. As soon as the paper crumbled to ashes, she walked towards the backdoor and opened it with her spare key. She kicked out her sneakers and hung her jacket over the heater. The cinnamon smell invaded her nostrils as soon as she stepped inside the living room, though no one was there. Lily ran up the stairs towards her room and closed it shut.

When she sat on the bed, she opened the drawer of her nightstand with the key that hung around her necklace. 

Inside the drawer, there was a book. She grabbed it and started to write, while trying to clear her mind. It seemed like the paper was her only true friend, to whom she could confess anything to.

 _I'm ridiculous,_  she thought bitterly, as she filled another page with empty, heated words.

 


	2. Chapter 2

> **Daryl**

Daryl clenched his teeth as he looked at his father, who sat on the couch with the letter in his hands. "Ya fucked up already? Yer such a fuckin'  _failure_ , ya know tha'? Ya wann' end up like yer old man?  _Huh?_! Tha' what ya want?!"

 _Like the useless drinkin' scumbag 's you are, no thanks_ , he answered in thought. After all these years, he knew it was better to just swallow the words that were thrown at him instead of replying. Daryl gazed down at his feet while his father continued to scream at him.  _Jus' a few more minutes_ , he told himself as he swifted uncomfortably on his feet.

When his father was done with giving his worthless lecture, Daryl ran up the stairs to his room, with the letter in his hands. Though he was distracted when he saw that the usual closed door of Merle's bedroom, was opened ajar.

He walked into the room without knocking and froze on the spot when he saw the familiar figure of his older brother. Merle looked up, his eyes widened, which was most likely from the drugs. Daryl sighed and Merle struggled to stand up. "Darylina, didn' think I was ever goin' ta see yer ugly ass face ever again!" 

Daryl pursed his lips together. The last thing he wanted, was to have a conversation with his drugged up piece of a shit brother. "When did they let ya outta jail?" Daryl wondered blankly, which caused Merle to growl under his breath. "Ya ain't happy ta see yer brotha?  _Am I ta good for ya_? Don'tcha gimme tha' look." Merle grumbled as he walked towards Daryl. Merle's eyes moved to where Daryl was holding his letter, and Daryl cursed himself internally for not hiding it in his room right away. "What's tha'?" Merle wondered, though he had already grabbed the letter out of Daryl's hands.

He read it as quickly as he could, which was surprisingly fast, considering the drugs he had used. Daryl bit his lower lip when Merle looked at him again. "Don'tcha be a fuck-up, Darylina." he growled. Daryl shook his head and heaved a sigh, while Merle examined his face. "Did tha' Jones bitch do tha'? She botherin' yer ass 'gain?" 

Daryl ignored him and hoped Merle would drop the matter. Though he was stupid for thinking that, after all that happened. "Yer goin' ta get yer ass kicked 'round by a girl? A fucking _woman_? Yer a fag 'r somethin'?!" he screamed. Daryl flinched at the sudden change of his voice. "I punched 'er back." he said quietly. Even though Daryl hated Lilianne, he was no woman beater. It was the last thing he wanted to be. "Wha'?!" Merle yelled while he came closer. Daryl forced himself not to move backwards. "I punched 'er!" he screamed in return.

Merle smirked approvingly and eventually burst out in laughter. He grabbed Daryl and roughly ruffled his hair.

* * *

The next morning, Daryl tried to follow his classes and avoid any kind of social contact. Throughout the day, he tried to distract himself with the best prospect he had; going to the woods. Before Merle got his ass in jail, he had taught Daryl how to track. Now that Daryl was learning everything about surviving in the woods, he could escape whenever the fuck he wanted. It was something he had been dreaming of for a long time; when he was 6, he had ran off into the woods after his drunk ass dad had beated up his mother again. No one had missed him. He often wondered what is was like to have someone missing him.

During the lunch break, Daryl went to the bathroom. He opened the door but was harshly pushed against the wall by a snickering David Robinson. He cursed him under his breath and entered the boys bathroom. 

He stopped breathing for a brief moment.

She was pulling her dress straight while she walked out of a toilet. Lily looked down while she quickly combed her hair with her fingerstips. Daryl swallowed, and feared it might have been so loudly that she had heard it. Lily looked up, shocked to see Daryl standing there. "What tha fuck?" Daryl mumbled as he frowned at her. Lily transformed to her usual self. " _What_?" she snarled while she put her hands on her hips. 

It only took a few minutes to make the right connection. "Oh Jesus.." Daryl moaned in disgust while he put his hand over his eyes. Lily walked towards him. "Well, why are you so surprised? didn't you say I was the slut of the school?!"  she exclaimed while she pointed at him. Daryl raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Stop talkin'  _shit_ , I ain't said that." 

Lily shoved him backwards. "Oh no right, the exact words were ' _skank_ '. Go fuck yourself, Dixon." 

After she had said that, she disappeared and left Daryl alone again. He wondered, what kind of mental illness was going on in that head of hers.


	3. Chapter 3

> **Lily**

A soft smile appeared on her lips as she watched her friend twirl in front of the mirror. "You think Ethan will notice me?" the blonde chirped happily as she pushed her breasts together with her upper arms. Lily rolled her eyes and exchanged looks with Jessica, who sat across from her. "Yeah Kell, don't worry about it." she assured her friend while she looked at her freshly black polished nails. The three of them were in Lily's room dressing up for the party they were going to, while Johnny Cash blasted through the speakers. Unlike her two friends, who all wore colors and pretty patterns, Lily wore a simple short black dress with her leather jacket and boots. Her eyes were dark and her lips were slightly colored red from the MAC lipstick. Even though she prefered not to wear much make up, she wanted to feel pretty tonight.

Kelli plopped down next to her on the bed. Lily looked up at the blonde girl and attempted to give her an reassuring smile. "Did you get in much trouble for burning that letter?" Jessica asked to break the silence. Lily glanced to her and shrugged. "Kind of. But it'll be alright. I have to follow this stupid homework and studying project for extra additional points. If I don't, they will sent me to a boarding school."

Usually, she wouldn't care, but a foster home was better than a boarding school. The thought made her shiver. The stories she had heard about those schools weren't exactly positive. "I can't believe you punched Daryl Dixon! What did he do?!" Kelli giggled. Lily shook her head and stood up. "Just forget it. Let's go." she said quickly, while she nodded at the clock on the wall.  _11:40 PM_. The girls stood up and left the room. They were greeted by Katherine, Lily's foster mom. She smiled. "Hello Kelli and Jessica. Y'all goin' to the party?" she asked cheerfully. Both of them nodded with a smile, though Lily rolled her eyes. Katherine noticed but didn't say anything about it. She looked at Lily  with concern filling her eyes. "Don't.. Just.. Be careful, alright? With boys and alcohol and stuff. Call us if you need a ride." she said firmly. Lily glared daggers at her. " _Fine_."

The three of them walked outside. They figured it would be better to walk to the party, instead of driving. Lily could promise Katherine not to drink, but she'd be lying if she would say that.

Kelli and Jessica chattered away, while Lily lighted up a cigarette in silence. The further they walked into the troubled neighbourhood, the louder the house music echoed through the streets. Lily sighed when she heard the shit music she was forced to listen all night to.

When they reached Noel's house, the guy who held the party, Jessica and Kelli stopped and stared. Lily halted in her tracks when she noticed the two missing spots next to her. She turned around and frowned. "What?" she snarled as she blew out smoke along with the words. Jessica and Kelli exchanged an insecure look. Lily turned around and saw all the people, in and around the house; some were clearly drunk. Lily rolled her eyes. "Nothing's going to happen, for fucks sake. And if something does, we will just get the hell out of here. Don't worry." she tried to assure her friends while she gestured for them to come. Jessica and Kelli walked up to her. "You sure? You ever been to these parties before?" Kelli asked nervously, which made Lily snicker under her breath. "Oh  _yeah_ , trust me. You'll be  _fine_."

This seemed to put their minds at ease. They all walked towards the front door. Lily stepped over a pile of puke. Once inside, there were people everywhere; a couple of girls were laughing and gossiping away, while a boy and a girl were in a heated make out session. Lily shook her head and made a disapproving sound as she continued to the living room. Several girls had thrown away their clothing and were dancing around half naked. Lily turned around. Kelli and Jessica both smirked at eachother. Lily pointed at the half naked girls. "Now don't end up like _that_ , or I will never take you guys to another party  _ever_  again!" she screamed over the loud music. Her friends nodded. "I'm gonna get something to drink. Enjoy yourselves." Lily yelled as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Several drinks were served. Lily took a shot of something she didn't recognize, though she almost puked from the sweetness. A bottle of whiskey caught her attention and she grabbed it. Armed with a bottle, she walked around the house and stopped to talk to some people while occasionally sipping from her whiskey. She suddenly saw Merle Dixon, along with Daryl and some other friends. They leaned against the wall while most of them were looking at the half naked girls.  _Pigs_ , Lily thought disgusted as she turned around and walked up the stairs.

When she had found a room that wasn't occupied by a couple bumping uglies, she sat down on the bed and closed the door behind her. She opened the pocket of her leather jacket and grabbed the joint. A vinyl player was on the nightstand next to the bed and she turned it on. When she heard the familiar sound of Jimi Hendrix, she smiled and leaned against the wall as she lighted the joint. The numbing smoke burnt through her lungs and she chuckled. The more she inhaled, the dizzier she started to feel. Her senses were tingling and she started to laugh out loud for no reason.

The door opened. Lily didn't bother to look up. "Hi, babe." said a drunk male voice. Lily sat up straight with the joint hanging loosely between her red lips. "Hi, David." she replied with a nod as she took the joint between her fingertips. David's eyes widened. "Is that.." he nodded at the joint in her hands. Lily rolled her eyes. "Are you really using that? Like, how do you do it? What does it do?" he asked like a child. The girl stood up and quickly finished the joint. She threw it out of the window. "You didn't see  _anything_ , if that's what you're asking. What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

David stood up and walked towards her. He pinned her against the wall and started to trail kisses down her neck. The girl shoved him backwards. "That was  _one_  time, David." she grumbled. David smirked and tried again, as he sucked on her lower lip. Lily pushed him away again. 

"If she says  _no,_  she means _no_. Ya deaf or somethin'?!" 

Both of them looked at Daryl who was standing in the doorway. There was an unreadable expression on his face, though it seemed like he was furious for some reason. David chuckled mockingly. "What are you going to do about it,  _redneck_?" he scoffed. "You're with  _him_  now?" David asked as he looked at Lily. She shook her head and frowned. "Ya best shut yer mouth. Don' _touch_  'er unless she wants ya to, prince  _not-so-charmin_ '." Daryl growled as he ignored Lily. David walked towards Daryl until they were only inched away from eachother. "You're not gonna do  _shit,_  redneck. Let me tell you why; because you are a _useless_  piece of  _shit_  with zero friends, except for that drug-addicted brother of yours."

Daryl waited a few seconds before he started to throw punches at David. Lily shrieked as Daryl beated up David, who was laying helplessly on the ground. After a few minutes, she heard David begging for mercy.

"Wha' tha;'  _fuck_ , Darylina? I leave ya alone for a few minutes 'n ya start fuckin' shit up again,  _huh_?!"

Daryl abruptly stopped. His fist was still in the air as he looked at David's bloodied face. Lily watched as the younger Dixon stood up. "We're goin' home, ya  _piece_  o'  _shit_." Merle grumbled. Daryl never looked at her as he and his older brother disappeared out of the bedroom. Lily looked around and saw all the people who had seen the fight, including Kelli and Jessica. They all looked shocked. Lily stepped towards them, though a hand grasped around her ankle. She looked down and saw David staring at her. "I'm gonna report your ass." he said harshly. Lily pressed her lips together. "Yeah? Well  _fuck_  you David. I told you to stay the fuck away from me. Ain't my fault that you don't have any balls." she mocked as she walked away. The group of people looked stunned and it took a few moments for them to realize what Lily had said. Most of them started to laugh.

Lily walked out of the house. She heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't bother to turn around. " _Wow_!" Kelli exclaimed while she grabbed Lily's left hand. Jessica grabbed the other. "What was that all about?" Jessica asked curiously. "Daryl Dixon punches you and now he's suddenly  _beating_  up David? He got a thing for you?" Kelli wiggled her eyebrows and Lily yanked her hands to her sides. "Just.. Leave me alone, would you?" 

She left her friends behind as she ran home.

 


	4. Chapter 4

> **Daryl**

When they were back in their house, Merle was furious. "What tha' fuck 's tha' all about?!" he asked angrily. Daryl shrugged. "Jus' some trouble. Why tha fuck d'ya care anyways?"

They walked into the living room. Their father was on the couch, passed out. Merle walked towards Daryl and poked his finger in his chest. "'Cuz dem popo assholes got their eyes on us! Jus' got my ass outta jail! Now if ya got problems with anyone, ya tell ya brother  _beforehand_  'stead of throwin' punches right awa', got it?!" 

Daryl nodded sheepish. Their father woke up shortly after Merle's outburst. "Wha' tha fuck?! Can' ya two jus' keep it down?! Tryin' ta fuckin' sleep over 'ere." 

Merle rolled his eyes. "Shut yer mouth Pop, I'm havin' a talk with Daryl." he growled at their father, who struggled to sit up straight. "Daryl has been beatin' up tha' Robinson kid." Merle explained while his eyes never left Daryl's. Daryl sighed heavily, knowing this could only make things worse. Their father smirked. "Tha's my boy." he said, still with a half drunken tone. Merle rolled his eyes. "Daryl could get his ass inta  _jail_ , Pop, bes' keep yer damn mouth shut." Merle said dangerously in his lower voice. Their father stood up. "Ya goin' ta tell me how ta raise mah own kids?!" 

The younger Dixon eyed the two in uncomfortable silence. This was most likely going to end badly, so he slipped away to his room instead. Once he sat on his bed, he heard Merle and his father shout at eachother. Daryl grabbed his duvet and pulled it over his head while trying to process everything that had happened tonight.

The next morning, he stood up earlier to gather his supplies for school. Today he was supposed to go to some shit study project, in order to earn extra points. If he wouldn't attend, he would be kicked out of school. The last thing he wanted, was to stay at home doing nothing all day like his father. Though if he  _did_  fail, he was going to run off and continue his miserable life in the woods. 

The day passed by slowly and as soon as school was over, Daryl grasped the crumpled letter out of his jacket. After smoking one last cigarette, he went to the assigned class room.

A skinny, blonde haired woman greeted him with a toothy smile. Daryl rolled his eyes and shook his head. He looked around and saw 6 other students, who all looked bored. Daryl sighed and walked towards the back of the classroom. There was only one seat left next to him and he wondered who the annoying little shit was that was holding up the whole class. 

Soon he found out. The door opened and a girl walked in, with a leather jacket and a cut off jeans. She closed the door behind her and walked into the classroom. When she reached the empty seat next to Daryl, she halted and gasped. Daryl looked up, slightly annoyed, and cursed under his breath. It was Lily Jones. " _Fuck_." he exclaimed, causing the whole class to turn around. Lily rolled her eyes and sat down as she dumped her backpack on the ground with a loud thud. The teacher cleared her throat and stood up straight. "Welcome,  _class_!" she chirped happily. Daryl already disliked her and her fake attitude. "Welcome to the extra lessons, where you'll do a project about bad life choices. The person next to you will be your partner. I will hand over a sheet on which you'll find all the information you need." 

The realisation suddenly hit him. He looked at Lily who looked stunned aswell. She turned around. "I ain't doin' this," Daryl spat as he sat up straight. Lily raised her eyebrows. "What,  _are you too good for me?_  That it?" she asked with an arrogant tone. Daryl ignored her and looked at their teacher, who had almost reached their seats. "Can I git another partner?" he asked blankly. The woman looked up with a forced smile. "I'm sorry, no. I heard about your little problem earlier and I think this project will be a good opportunity to get to know one another."

Daryl sighed dramatically. "Ya  _ain_ ' fuckin'  _serious_.." he groaned as he massaged his temples.

* * *

The two of them stood outside their school, smoking a cigarette. Lily cleared her throat and Daryl was already annoyed because of her presence. "So.. Who's place are we going to?"

Daryl snapped up at her and grinded his teeth. "Don'cha even think 'bout it." he growled before he inhaled the smoke from his cigarette. The burning feeling in his lungs calmed him down.  _For now._  "Well do you have any better ideas? We're supposed to do this project out of school in our  _free_  time." she said quietly as she gazed at her feet. Daryl exhaled the smoke. "Yer parents home? They goin' ta lecture me 'bout mah  _'bad life choices_ ' 'r what?" he asked mockingly. Lily looked up. Something in her expression changed. "They are not my parents." she said casually. Daryl raised his eyebrows. "What?" 

Lily shook her head. "Just forget about it. What about your parents?" 

The question caught him off guard. Merle was at Johnson's, his favourite pub, and his father was out for some gambling. Daryl sighed and nodded. "Alrigh', let's go. Sooner we're done with this, tha better." 

* * *

They took Daryl's pick up. Lily sat next to him while she stared outside. The awkward tension between them was increasing within minutes. Lily turned the radio on and suddenly some dumb ass boy-band song came on. Daryl clenched the steering wheel, annoyed by her girly musical taste. "Jesus Christ." Lily groaned as she changed the radio station. Daryl's grip loosened and he chuckled darkly. Lily shook her head. "Don't you have anything better? Hendrix, Cash, Stones,  _anything_?" she asked while she turned around to face him. Daryl narrowed his eyes. "Yer kiddin' right? Ya listenin' t' all 'o that?" he asked suspiciously as he grabbed a Johnny Cash audio tape from under his seat. Lily smiled and grasped it out of his hands before he could say anything. "Yes, why? You surprised? Don't judge a book by it's cover, Dixon. Maybe we should put that in the project. Some sentimental shit will do us good." 

Daryl laughed and shook his head. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

> **Lily**

Daryl unlocked the front door. The door swung open and Daryl cursed when he noticed the small polybag of meth on the table. Without saying anything, he grabbed it and put it in his jacket. Lily noticed how he all tensed up, and she tried to smile softly as an attempt to ease the situation. Daryl avoided her gaze and cleared the dinner table. Lily stepped forward. "Need help?" she offerd, while she leant awkwardly against the wall behind her. "No." Daryl growled annoyed while he continued to throw the dirty plates into the sink. As soon as he was finished, he sat down. Lily hesitated before sitting down across from him. She grabbed the information sheet from school out of her bag. " _Past.. Parents.. Addictions.. Habits_.." she read out loud. Daryl watched her and opened his notebook. It was filled with random doodles. Lily tore the sheet apart and grasped her hair with her hands in frustration. "Yeah I really can't do this." she sighed as she looked down. Daryl frowned. "Life ain't 'bout fairytales 'n sunshine. Le's jus' begin 'n make some shit up."  

Lily looked up. Was he actually being kind? Or had they called it a truce?

Lily had only been in this high school for one year, while Daryl was in his last year. Ever since she had come to this school, she had argued with Daryl for no reason. It was all coincidence, since they kept running into eachother in and out of school. There was no particular reason why they acted the way they did. Maybe because of the stories everyone had told her about Daryl.

Lily sighed and nodded. "I guess." she said as she opened her own notebook aswell. "We're uhm.. Supposed to interview eachother or something."

Daryl rolled his eyes. " _Fine_." he scowled. They both started to write down their questions for eachother. After a few minutes, they both dropped their pens. Lily opened her mouth, though Daryl cut her off. "I'm startin'." he said as a warning. Lily nodded and sighed. " _Fine_." 

"Are ya happy now?" he asked as he looked at her. Lily pursed her lips together. "What kind of question is that?" she protested as she narrowed her eyes. Daryl slammed on the table, causing Lily to jump up. "Jus' answer tha damn question! I just want ta get this over with! I ain't sittin' here with ya 'n pretend all tha' shit from last year didn' happen, 'cuz it did,  _understood_?!" he yelled in anger. His chest heaved up and down and his face was slightly red from his outburst. Lily nodded. " _Are ya happy_?" he repeated, more roughly than the first time. Lily swallowed the lump down her throat. "No." she answered simply while she took the pen in her fingers to keep herself occupied. Daryl started to write her answer down. "Why not?" he grunted. Lily shrugged. "I've never been happy." she admitted, which was true; she couldn't remember one happy period in her life. It was always the same depressing bullshit. Daryl looked up at her with a blank expression. "Tha's jus' pathetic." he rasped as he continued to write. The comment stung her somewhere, though she refused to admit it.

Daryl laid down his pen and looked at her, awaiting for her question. "Who do you have no respect for?" Lily asked as she glanced at her paper. Daryl chuckled mockingly. "My dad." he admitted. Lily looked up at him. "Why not?" she asked as she flipped the pen between her fingertips. Daryl sighed. "Does it matter?!" 

Another silence followed while Lily wrote down the answer. She then looked at Daryl again, who seemed to lose his patience. "Why d'ya pretend ta be a two faced bitch when yer really jus' a pansy?"

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but she was frozen on the spot. She dearly wished that she could go back and undo the fight between them, so they wouldn't have to sit here. It seemed like Daryl was using this to avenge her for her deeds, which she fully understood. Though she hadn't expected it to be so painful.  _This asshole barely knows me for God's sake!_

"Because if I'd be myself, it'd be no use. I'm leaving anyway, so calm your guts." she answered casually. Daryl sat up straight. "Whad'dya mean, ' _yer leavin_ '?" he asked sheepishly. Lily sighed. "Don't pretend you didn't hear me. You ain't that stupid." she snapped as she stood up and grabbed her backpack. She opened the bag and threw her notebook in it. "Where ya goin'?!" he growled as he stood up to stop her, though Lily already walked towards the front door. "What does it looks like I'm doing?!" she yelled as she opened the door. Daryl stopped it with his foot and slammed against the door to close it. Lily didn't look at him. "What 'r ya so afraid of,  _huh_? Ta finally tell someone tha truth, 'bout yer cute lil' act?!"

Lily shook her head shoved him. It wasn't hard, but hard enough for Daryl to stumble backwards. While he was distracted, Lily opened the door and ran outside.

"There's nothin' wrong with talkin', ya stupid bitch!" he screamed after her.

"Oh, look who's talking! Go  _fuck_  yourself!" she fired back as she continued to walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

> **Daryl**

After she left, Daryl threw the door shut with a loud noise. The walls vibrated along with it, and he swore with every possible word he could make up. "Stupid bitch!" he yelled as he punched the nearest wall. The adrenaline caused to numb the pain. Daryl leaned with his back against the wall and slid down until he was sitting.

Lily was such a pain in the ass, pretending to be all holy when she clearly wasn't. He remembered how she used to call him names, or do simple annoying things like slam the books out of his hands. Or throw his backpack in the garbage. The typical bully stuff. Eventually Daryl stood up for himself though it hadn't always been like that; Lily always had a group behind her to protect her, while Daryl had no one besides his brother. Though when he'd tell Merle about his bruises, his older brother would tell him to wipe his pussy. One time, Merle had come to school to punch Clark Jensen, which was the moment when Lily's group stopped to call him names, in fear of his older brother.

None of that mattered now.

Daryl walked towards the dinner table and sat down. He grabbed his notebook and stared at the question.

**_Are you happy? A: No, she's never been happy._ **

He remembered his response to her answer, about how pathetic it was. Daryl cursed himself in thought and threw the notebook across the room.

Had Daryl ever been happy? When he realized that his answer was the same as Lily's, he flipped the table, while his body trembled from anger.

* * *

Daryl drove to school in his rusty pick up. After yesterday, he had thought about everything. Several solutions had come to mind.  _Apologizing_. He had actually considered it, but Daryl wasn't going to say sorry to the bitch. Did Lily ever apologize for all the shit she'd done to him?

He drove into the parking lot. The other students who drove behind him pressed their horns. Daryl raised his middlefinger in response while he tried to find an empty spot. 

* * *

He walked into the classroom. History was one of the few things that actually interested him. The teacher, an old lady, was actually a great story teller. When he would show up with bruises, she would always ask him if everything was alright. She had even offered him to have a chat with her, though he had refused right away. Daryl Dixon was an asshole to most people, but he couldn't bring it to himself to scare away his old history teacher.

Mrs. Wilkes was about to start the class, when suddenly the door opened. Two police officers stepped into the room. One of them walked towards Mrs Wilkes to whisper something in her ear. She nodded in response and the two policemen looked at the students. Some students started to whisper at eachother. "We are here because of a report," said one of the police officers. The other grabbed a photo and raised it in the air for the students to see. "Has anyone of you seen this girl after yesterday afternoon?"

Daryl's heartbeat increased. On the photo was a smiling brunette, wearing a summer's dress. Her long hair was wavy and decorated with a flower on the left side. 

Lily.

No one replied. Daryl felt sick.  _What if something happened?_  Was it because of him?

The police officers examined each and every student by boring their eyes into theirs. They all shook their heads, though Daryl avoided their gaze. Eventually, the police officers left.

The day passed by slowly. Lily's disappearance was the topic of the day and it made him furious. Everyone talked about it, while they kept making up scenario's of why she possible would have left. Daryl was forced to listen to it during class, and even in his lunchbreak. Though when he heard the word ' _rape_ ' he left the cafetaria with a weird feeling in his stomach.

While he drove home, his mind was nearly exploding from the information. Had Daryl been the last person Lily had spoken to? Did someone take her?  _Did she run away?_

There were more questions than answers, and Daryl started to get frustrated. Yet there was one question he could answer; if Lily's disappearance had anything to do with his outburst from yesterday, Daryl would never forgive himself.


	7. Chapter 7

> **Lily**

The fury raged through her body as she walked home. Not knowing whether the shivering was either from the cold or adrenaline, she hugged herself in attempt to stay warm. Different thoughts ran through her head. One of them was about how much she not only hated Daryl, but also herself for behaving like the bitch she had this year. She should have known that this would eventually all come down on her.

While she tried to calm herself down by equaling her breath, she tried to think about the possible solutions. Did she have to apologize for her deeds? But she scoffed, realizing that would probably be useless with a person like Daryl. But then again, maybe she had to quit judging others by other people's stories.

Lily rounded the corner and walked up to her house. She grabbed her key out of her pocket and opened the front door. Her foster parents, Katherine and Dean, were probably in the living room. She was in no way interested in having a conversation with them, so she ran up to her room straight away.

As she approached the door of her room, she noticed it was opened ajar.  _What the fuck?_

She slowly shuffled forward until she was able to peek into the room. The rage in her body increased with a thousand flames when she saw who was in her room.

Both her foster parents had opened the drawer of her nightstand. Even though she always locked it up, they had managed to break it open with a knife. Her secret notebook rested in Katherine's lap. Both of her foster parents were reading it, occasionally gasping for air. Katherine had tears on her cheeks. It felt as if someone had just invaded her thoughts. The only place and item that carried her secrets was discovered.

Lily pushed the door open with loud force. Katherine and Dean's heads snapped up and they looked shocked. "What the hell?!" Lily yelled as she paced forward to roughly grasp away the book. Katherine and Dean stood up. "Honey.. We're so sorry.." Katherine said softly as she tried to calm Lily down who was clearly outraged. "Shut up and save me your excuses! Leave!"

"We did it for your own good.. We were just worried and-" "I said,  _leave_!"

Dean patted his Katherine's shoulder and nodded at the door. Katherine sighed and obeyed his silent request. They closed the door behind them, after offering Lily one last worrisome glance.

As soon as she was alone, Lily grabbed her biggest backpack and started to throw all her clothes, make up and other personal belongings in it. The tears were threatening to escape her eyes, though she forced them back by biting her tongue.  _Betrayal_. That's one of the main things she felt in that moment. Though she was also sad and disappointed, mostly in herself. All the different foster families over the past couple of years had really taken its toll; she had become someone she obviously wasn't. She blamed her biological parents for that, for leaving her like trash at a child's day care, to subsequently not come back at all. She was only 5 months old and no one knew what happened.

After she had put her books and pencils in her bag, she hoisted it up her back and climbed out of the window, using the drainpipe and the ivy to slide herself down. Her hands hurted afterwards, though she managed to ignore the buzzing pain.

* * *

The woods darkened as time passed by and even though she wasn't easy to scare, Lily was frightened. Not being able to look in the distance caused her to feel panicked. So she did the first thing that came to mind; climb in a tree. Once she was almost in the top, she felt safe. 

Hours passed by, while Lily didn't do anything besides clinging to the tree. She would often break down in tears, though she tried to keep her noise down. Her foster parents had probably called the police, so they would probably be looking for her.

Exhaustion and weariness started to take over her body, and before she knew what was happening, she fell down the tree. The fall was only a few seconds and her head hurted very badly. Even though she tried to fight the dark specks, it was useless; soon she became unconscious.

* * *

Her eyes opened slowly and it was already dark again. She wasn't sure about how many days had passed, or hours, but the fact that the stars were illuminating the sky frightened her.

Lily leaned against the tree behind her while she tried to regain her full consciousness. Adjusting her eyes was hard, because they kept rolling inside her head. Suddenly, a figure in the distance caught her attention. Lily remaint silent as she watched the figure approach her. After a few minutes, the guy made eyecontact with her. "Fuck." she heard him swear as he ran towards her. He kneeled down in front of her and snapped his fingers to gain her attention. "Wha' tha fuck did ya do, girl?" he rasped as she felt his fingers roam her arm. Lily moaned sotfly when she felt the sensational pain at his touch. "I-I.." she tried to talk but failed miserably. "Yeah, I don' even wanna now. I'm gonna drive ya to tha hospital." he growled as he scooped her up in his arms. "No! Don't! No hospital." she blurted out before losing her consciousness again. The last thing she saw, was how Daryl rolled his eyes and grabbed her backpack. " _Fine,_ dumbass."

* * *

Lily sat up straight and panted heavily. Her body shivered from cold, yet it was coated with sweat. When she managed to restrain her body, she saw her surrounding. It was a small room with wooden walls. Her clothes were removed and she now wore an oversized tee that smelled like cigarettes and sweat. She found herself somehow enjoying the scent.

When she touched her forehead, she felt a gauze. As she tried to push herself up, her left arm flinched and hurted terribly. Lily cried out. She tried to sort out her memories, but her head ached too much. 

The door opened and she saw the person she had least expected to see.  _Daryl Dixon_. He carried her backpack and a large bottle of water in his hands. His expression was unreadable, though it was somewhere between worried, annoyed and frustrated. Lily sat up straight again and brushed a loose brown strand of hair behind her ear.

"I see yer awake." Daryl stated the obvious as he walked inside the room. Lily sighed and nodded. "I guess.." she replied awkwardly. Daryl sat down on the edge of the bed and gently threw her the bottle of water. Lily catched it and growled when her arm protested. " _Fuck_.." she moaned as she closed her eyes. Daryl chuckled in response and shook his head. "Yer really somethin', ain't ya?" he grinned as he got closer. Lily smirked. "I suppose.. What happened?" she wondered dumbly while she removed the cap from the bottle.

Daryl shrugged. "I dunno, ya tell me. I think ya fell out of a tree. Hit ya head pretty hard 'n bruised yer arm pretty bad. Wanted ta take ya to tha hospital, but ya didn't want me to." Daryl explained as he stared at his hands. Suddenly, the memories flooded back to her. "Oh god.." she whispered as she hid her face in her hands. She felt Daryl's glance on her, so she looked up at him.

"I need ta change yer bandage." he said gruff. Lily nodded and allowed Daryl to peel the gauze off her head. Their bodies were very close to eachother, and Lily felt slightly uncomfortable. His hands were warm on her skin, though she sobbed when the wound sticked to the gauze. "Oh don't be such a pansy." Daryl growled as he pressed a new gauze on the wound. When he was done, he focused on her arm. "So ya goin' ta tell me wha' happened?" he asked harshly. Lily bit her lower lip and wondered whether she should tell him or not.

Though she felt like she owed him that, because he took care of her and basically saved her life. "I had a fight with my foster parents." she admitted sheepish. Daryl made eye contact with her for a brief moment and continued to undo the bandage from her bare shoulder. It seemed like he wasn't surprised at the word 'foster parents', as if he somehow had expected that.

His touch sent a shiver of pleasure through her body. She cursed herself for that, especially since no other guy had ever made her feel like that. "So ya jus' go runnin' off like that whenever ya disagree with 'em?" she heard him mumble. Lily rolled her eyes. "Just forget it, okay? Why did you help me anyway?" she fired back while focusing on his hands. Daryl snorted. "What, am I supposed ta leave yer ass in tha dirt like tha'?" he scoffed. When he was finished with the bandage, he distanced himself from her. Lily longed for his touch right away, though she ignored it.  _Just the heat of the moment_ , she said to herself while she leaned back into the pillows. "That's what I deserve, after the shit I've done to you." she answered quietly. It was almost as if she could hear him roll his eyes at her. "That's somethin' for another time, alrigh'? Jus' get som' sleep. Tomorrow I'mma take ya back t' yer foster parents. Don'tcha try runnin' off or do anythin' stupid, 'cuz yer goin' anyhow. I ain't gonn' let yer parents drown 'emselves in sadness 'cuz yer too stubborn ta function." 

Lily wanted to fight, to scream at him how he didn't understand, but she was too exhausted. So instead she just nodded and sighed. She curled up under the blankets and hugged herself. "Yer cold?" Daryl asked as he stood up. Lily shook her head, though her trembling body betrayed her. "Don't lie ta me, girl." he growled as he grabbed a blanket out of the wooden closet in the corner. He then spread it over Lily's tiny body. Daryl never looked at her as he left the room.

 


	8. Chapter 8

> **Daryl**

The soft chirping birds had caused him to fall asleep. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but when he was awoken by the bright sunlight, he figured it was already around noon. Daryl stretched his body and flexed his wrists. A yawn escaped his lips as he stood up. He wondered whether Lily had truly stayed or not, so he opened the door of the bedroom as quietly as possible. A lump grew in his throat at the sight of her sleeping form; one of her arms was folded under her head and her bare legs were visible. Daryl tried to fight back the blush that crept up to his cheeks, though it was almost impossible not to stare at her. He cursed himself and closed the door quickly, not wanting to let his hormones take control over his conscious mind.

He sat down on the couch and looked at Lily's backpack, which he had retrieved from her room last night. The red notebook caught his attention and he let his curiousity take over as he grasped it out of her bag. Though when he suddenly heard the bed squeek in the bedroom where Lily was, he quickly put it back. For some reason he wanted to know what was in that book, though he decided to let it rest.  _Why tha fuck do I care anway_ , he thought bitterly as he grabbed the pack of cigarettes from the table.

The door opened and Lily walked slowly into the living room. She made eyecontact with Daryl, who laughed after seeing her face; her make up was spread all over her cheeks. Lily frowned. "What?" she grumbled as she put her hands on her hips. Daryl grinned and pointed at the mirror on the door. Lily paced towards it and gasped when she saw her face. Daryl lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply, while Lily continued to stare at her reflexion. "Ya not goin' ta freak out over yer face?" Daryl questioned with a chuckle as Lily walked towards the couch. She plopped down on the couch, with enough distance between them. "Nah," Lily said with an amused smile playing around her lips, "—you already saw the worst of me." 

Daryl chuckled and shook his head, thinking that she didn't look bad at all. Though she damn well knew that she was beautiful—she used it to take advantange out of people. "Can I have one?" Lily said, snapping him out of his thoughts. She nodded at the cigarette in his hand. Daryl scoffed. "Lil' girls ain't supposed ta smoke." he grumbled as he inhaled from the cigarette once more. Lily rolled her eyes and curled a strand of hair around her finger. "How old 'r ya anyway?  _12_?" he wondered mockingly. He saw her puzzled look. "15." she replied quietly.

He burst out in laughter. "Well be  _damned_. Ya really  _are_  a lil' girl still, ain't ya?" 

Lily closed the distance between them with a punch to his shoulder. She leaned back and looked pissed. Daryl chuckled and shook his head. "Calm down,  _princess_." he said teasingly, though Lily was everything except amused or happy. He blew out the smoke and stared at her. Honestly, he didn't care whether he had offended her or not; that's usually something she used to do to him. It was payback time. Though did he really want to put her through everything that had happened to him? It hadn't just been Lily, honestly. "When are you taking me back?" she snapped. Daryl looked at her in surprise. "When I  _want_  to. Yer goin' ta eat somethin' first." he said with a warning tone, causing Lily to roll her eyes. "Where are we anyway?" she asked as she looked around the room. A wave of nausea flowed through his body, because he damn well knew the answer. This was the place he'd go to when either Pop or Merle would lose their shit. It was simply the only place available for him to go to, aside from the woods itself. "Jus' my dads ol' huntin' cabin. He gave it ta me." he shrugged, though he was almost certain that his excuse sounded fake. The Dixon made eyecontact with the girl. She stared at him with an unreadable expression, though it seemed like she was secretly telling him  _'I'm not stupid_ '. Daryl looked away and stood up, giving himself the secret excuse to get Lily some breakfast. 

* * *

The girl gazed outside, while a silence hovered in the car. Daryl tapped on the steering wheel along with the song that was playing in the distance, even though he wasn't paying any close attention to it in the first place. Lily seemed nervous, for some reason, and he wondered why. Had the fight between her and her foster parents really been that bad? Was that the reason why she was acting so nervous? "Fer  _fucks_  sake, girl, stop bouncin' up 'n down or imma  _kick_  yer ass." he said, though the undertone in his voice declared he was only teasing. A loud sigh followed and Daryl frowned. "What are ya so nervous 'bout?" he questioned, while he drove into a posh looking neighborhood. He was close to her house, but he decided to keep driving for a bit, as an attempt to calm Lily down. Maybe it'd help. It was the best comfort he could offer her. Lily leant back in her seat. "I-I just don't know what to do, once I go in there. I mean, they did something  _awful_ , but I was even  _more_  stupid by acting like a bitch." she explained, not looking at Daryl as she spoke. Daryl bit his thumb nail, a nervous habit he would get from feeling uncomfortable. "Jus' try ta think 'fore speakin', then. Yer goin' ta be jus' fine." 

Lily looked at him, slightly surprised at his words. Daryl's cheeks flushed red and he shook his head as he rode towards her house. Even Daryl was shocked at the change of his mood. It had been so sudden, and he wondered where it had come from.

Once Daryl halted the car in front of the house, Lily covered her face in her hands. Daryl dearly hoped she wouldn't start crying; the soothing words from earlier had been one thing, but seeing her cry would be something totally different. Though she looked up, her eyes and cheeks still dry, and got out of the car after she had grabbed her backpack. Daryl was confused at first, but he followed her example and got out of the car aswell. Lily walked up the porch. Daryl only watched as she moved towards the front door. The younger Dixon grasped a cigarette out of his jacket and put it between it lips. The girl turned around to face him and smiled, though it was barely noticable. The 3 words that came out of her mouth stirred an unknown and unexplainable feeling up inside of his stomach. " _Thank you, Daryl_."

 


	9. Chapter 9

> **Lily**

Even though she opened the door as quietly as possible, the familiar creaks betrayed her presence. The two people snapped their heads around, to find out the source of the noise. Their eyes widened when they saw Lily standing in the doorway. A loud sob escaped Katherine's lips and she jumped up to hold Lily in her arms. Lily tried to remove herself out of the tight grasp, but when she felt the wet tears of her foster mother, she allowed the woman to craddle and clutch Lily to her chest. "We were so worried!' she heard the woman sob in shock. Lily sighed and tried to ignore the aching guilt that was growing in her chest. "Don't worry, I'm  _fine_." she grumbled. Katherine let go of her and cupped both her cheeks. She then noticed the gauze on her head and the bandage on her arm. "Oh my god." she whispered in disbelief. "What happened?  _Who did this to you_?"

Lily sighed. "I fell out of a tree. Don't worry about it." she said, trying her best to shrug it off. Lily turned around and saw her foster dad leaning against the nearest wall. He smirked and shook his head. "Knew you would come back." he said, frustrated yet teasing. Lily grinned back and looked at the ground. "Thanks, David." she mumbled in response. Dean chuckled. "You know, it's not a shame to start calling me dad. And Katherine mom, for that matter."

A lump grew in her throat. Never in all her life had she ever called anyone mom or dad. It was a label, and it was one she wanted to avoid most of the times. Lily nodded. "Will do. I just need time." the words were out before she knew it. Her voice had changed, as if she was starting to grow up more. Katherine had disappeared into the kitchen and returned with three glasses of lemonade. She nodded at the couch. "Sit down." she bid gently. Lily nodded and sat down on the left side. Dean and Katherine sat down next to her, Katherine offering her a glass. Lily forced herself to smile as she took the glass. "Thanks." she said softly, before taking a few sips from her drink. The liquid refreshed her mouth and throat, and she found herself liking it a lot. "So, who ' _saved_ ' you?" Dean asked curiously, as he took a glass for himself. "Wait, you guys aren't mad at me for running away?" she asked bluntly, surprised and shocked at the same time. Dean rolled his eyes. "Being mad at you wouldn't exactly improve our relationship. We're  _trying_ , Lily, we really are. All we ask is some mutual respect." Lily sighed and realized she had to tell the truth. " _Daryl_. This guy from my school." she explained, thinking about how she was sickened of lying all the time. Maybe they  _were_  good people, maybe they  _were_  actually worried about her, and therefor had read her diary. It would make sense, since she never opened up about anything; she used her diary for that. Lily expected a lecture about being friends with a guy, though they just nodded. Katherine smiled. "I'm glad he helped you. You should invite him over for dinner sometime." 

Lily nearly choked in her lemonade. She coughed loudly and blocked her mouth with a fistened hand. Dean chuckled loudly. "Something's telling me she isn't ready for that chapter yet." he said, grinning. Lily waved her hand. " _God_  no! It's not like that! We're just  _friends_. Well, I'm not sure if I can label him as a friend. I've been  _quite_  a  _bitch_."

Dean frowned and Lily gasped. "I'm sorry. I mean, I've been.. well.. not  _nice_  towards him. At all." she said, her cheeks turning red. Katherine raised her eyebrows. "Was this the same guy you were fighting with not so long ago?" she suddenly wondered, causing Lily to blush even more. "Uhm, yeah. They paired us up as a team for the project thing." she replied, avoiding their glances. Katherine and Dean exchanged looks. 

"I think that's a great idea. Maybe you'll finally start accepting eachother." Dean said, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm gonna go and call the police. They might wanna see you, Lily, so I suggest you stay home for the night." Katherine suddenly said as she stood up. Both of her foster parents now looked at her.

Lily shrugged and looked at her hands, before making eye contact with Katherine. 

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

* * *

The next day, Friday, Lily stayed home; she was in no mood for chit-chats about her mysterious disappearance. She just wanted to stay home and do nothing. Besides, her head still hurted from the fall. Lily took painkillers every few hours or so, since she refused to go to the doctor. She hated doctors and hospitals for no specific reason.

"You wanna watch a movie?"

Lily looked up from her book. She had locked herself into her room again, because she had to sort out the heavy, confusing thoughts. Never had she once allowed her foster parents to come so close, but it felt different this time. Lily laid the book down in her lap, admitting to herself that she wasn't able to read it anyway; her head throbbed whenever she tried to process a sentence, and the figures on the paper wouldn't make sense at all.

"I bought Ben and Jerry's.." Katherine said, with a childish seductive tone. Lily was unable to block the grin that now appeared on her face. 

And so, a short 15 minutes later, the two of them were watching cartoons while spooning from their ice cream. It made Lily feel better, about everything; she had never experienced these moments before and she appreciated them. Lily felt as if her foster parents were actually starting to show respect to her, and she'd do anything to return that feeling.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

> **Daryl**

With his English books clutched under his arm, Daryl made way towards the assigned classroom, forcing himself to forget everything that happened in the past few days. Lily may have acted nicely, though Daryl would never forget everything that happened between the two of them. No, it was way too simple, to just cover up the past with a layer of friendly exchanged words. Everything was now going back to normal—atleast, that's what he told himself. The emotional shield around him was already beginning to show off cracks, caused by his concern regarding the girl. The girl that happened to be  _Lilianne_  fucking  _Jones_.

Once he reached the classroom, he picked a seat in the very back of the room, wanting to avoid any human contact. It wasn't as if he had any friends in the first place. Well, except for his older brother (as far as they were considered friends) and his friends, but he didn't like them. Sure, he hung out with them, but they were all simple-minded pieces of shit.

His thoughts were abrupty cut off when the chair next to him was shoved backwards. Daryl looked up, seeing noone other than Lily Jones herself sitting down next to him. A few classmates turned around to look at them in confusion, suddenly aware of who were sitting next to eachother. He shot a glare in response to the others. "Goodmorning." chirped Lily happily, offering him a wellmeant smile. Daryl wanted to roll his eyes, though he couldn't ignore the pressing feeling in his chest, caused by a simple greeting of a friend.

_A **friend** —?_

_You're fuckin' nuts._

"Well, look who's decided t' show up today, hmm?" he replied sarcastically. Lily's expression went from confusion to complete blank, to Daryl's satisfaction. The girl had no time to reply however, because the class was getting started. 50 minutes passed, filled with the boring teacher expaining  _Catcher in the Rye_  and it's 'symbolic' meaning for the hundredth time. Meanwhile, Daryl felt the angry and judgemental looks from Lily resting on him, and he struggled to keep it under control. As soon as the bell began to ring, Daryl got up from his seat and gathered his belongings. "What's your problem?" Lily snapped instantly out of the blue, cauzing Daryl to freeze in his steps. There was a feeling of guilt somewhere in his chest, which stated the obvious; his thick emotional shell was indeed starting to crumble.  _Goddamnit_.

"Nothin'," he said quickly, reminding himself they both had to put up with eachothers shit for the sake of their educational career.

Instead, he quietly decided to play it cool. Even though he didn't like it, they had to quit the hassle between them.  _Just for now_ , he thought. _Until she's goin' ta face facts and apologize for her piss poor behavior over the past few years_. "Jus' forget it. How ya feelin'?" 

The girl seemed confused for a moment. Raising an eyebrow, she looked as if she was about to comment on his unusual behavior, but instead she shook her head.

" _Spectacular_. What about you?" 

" _Fantastic_." 

The sarcasm was clearly dripping off their words. They looked at each other and then laughed. Lily's laugh was a pleasant sound to listen to. When Daryl acknowledged that fact to himself, he wanted to punch his own ass for liking it so much. He wasn't sure what was happening; and the fact that he was both annoyed and relieved about the fact that she returned to school. 

"Listen, the deadline for this project thing is in like.. 3 weeks. I think we should  _uh_ , yeah, continue it?" 

Daryl was swept back to reality at hearing her proposal. He simply nodded.  _That stupid fuckin' project._ She was right, though: sooner or later they had to finish it. Lily looked at him, as if she was anticipating for him to say something. He nodded his head agreeingly. "Right, um.." 

The idea of Lily meeting his Pop and Merle face to face made him winch. As if Lily took notice, she sighed quietly and shook her head, as if she was silently protesting with herself. "We um.. could do it at my place?" she offered. Daryl showed off a tiny grin as a silent agreement. He nodded, and Lily smiled aswell.

* * *

They worked all afternoon in Lily's backyard. The girl had assured him that her parents were off working, and he was confused for a moment when her expression changed at the realization she called her fosterparents her actual 'parents'. 

The sun was shining bright, and the two of them were sitting on the porch, both of them smoking a cigarette. They'd focused on eachother childhoods; Daryl had found out that Lily had moved 9 times. She'd lived in New York, and Daryl had asked her what that'd been like. ' _Fucking disgusting,_ ' she'd told him, pulling a sour face whilst talking. Lily had also lived in Los Angeles, but was transferred to another foster family because Lily swore too much. Apparently, those folks were quite religious. Daryl also found out that Lily aspired to be a politician, when she'd been younger. When he asked her what came between her and that specific childhood dream, she shrugged and replied with ' _life_.'

Daryl had been scared; being forced to open up like this was horrendous. A few times, he felt like standing up and walking away without saying anything, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. After all, even Lily had trusted her past into his own hands, and he realized he wasn't the only one with a fucked up childhood. There was still a voice in the back of his mind, who was wondering what the hell he was doing here with her. But, he managed to brush it off, for now.

"Lilianne?" 

Daryl turned around and felt a lump in his throat. Even though the unfamiliar voice had come out of the blue, it could only mean one thing.  _Crap, her fucking parents._  Lily mimicked his shocked expression. "Fuck." she whispered, quickly pushing her cigarette against the porch and throwing it away before her parents could possibly notice. Daryl blew out the last smoke and decided to do the same thing. "Euh.. Katheri-  _mom_?" Lily replied carefully, quickly standing up and accidentally dropping her papers off the porch in the process. Daryl got up aswell and chuckled when he saw the interview papers lying in the grass, and Lily punched him on the shoulder. "Ow!" he said dramatically, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. 

When finally her mother made appearance, Daryl frowned. Was this the woman Lily had made such hassle about? She looked harmless, no,  _nice_  even. Katherine smiled heartedly at Lily, and kept on smiling when her eyes fell on Daryl's form. "Hello dear.. And who is this gentleman?" she asked curiously, eyebrows raised slightly. Lily seemed to force out a smile and gestured at Daryl. "This is Daryl.. the um, the guy I told you about last week." 

_Guy I told you about?_

An amused grin lingered around his lips and he looked at Lily, whose cheeks were slightly colored red, thanks to her own words. "Well in that case, it's very nice to meet you Daryl." bid Katherine, still with that smile on her lips. Daryl nodded and attempted to smile, although it looked rather acted--he was fully aware of that. It wasn't as if he walked around all day with a smile painted on his face. No, infact, never in his life had he smiled so much as now. Which was ridiculous, in his opinion.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" 

He could hear Lily gasp next to him; it was obvious that her mother's proposal made her nervous. For the sake of enjoying that victory, making her feel nervous and uncomfortable a little longer, he wanted to accept that offer. Or was it because he'd enjoyed today with Lily and didn't want it to end yet? Because he didn't want to go home and face reality; the reality of his life being based on the image of him being a piss poor joke? This family seemed to be everything he didn't have, or ever had before.  _Or ever will be_ , he added mockingly in thought.

Lily looked at her mother with a judgemental expression in her hazel eyes. Almost as if Lily was silently pleading her to take back her offer. And so, Daryl cleared his throat, before replying to Katherine. "Sure." 

Automatically, Lily's glanced moved to Daryl. When she realized that he wasn't joking, the dramatic expression in her face softened a bit, though she was still perplexed by his somewhat lethal decision. "What?" he wondered stupidly (and on purpose), just to set her off. Lily sighed and shook her head. The girl closed her eyes and ran a hand through her long, wavy hair. "Nevermind. It's..  _nothing_." Lily scoffed. Daryl grinned.

When it was finally dinner time, Daryl felt more anxious as ever; he wished he hadn't accepted Katherine's offer. The silence that hung in the atmosphere was uncomfortable, to say the least. After a while, though, Lily's parents talked to eachother about the daily news. This gave Daryl an opportunity to look at Lily, who seemed ready to bury her head in the dish. When they made eyecontact however, they both bit their lower lip in silence to prevent them from bursting out into laughter.

* * *

"So.. been talkin' about me,  _huh_ ?" 

That referment was the sentence that seemed to break her. Lily muzzled her mouth with her left hand, as if she was afraid to spill another stupid line that'd suggest she was actually thinking about Daryl when he wasn't with her. Instead of answering his assumption, she sat down on the porch again. Daryl sat down next to her, as he continued to practically pierce his eyes through her skull. "I .. talked about the accident. What happened in the woods. I told them you kinda rescued me."  _Oh, right_. He'd almost forgotten about that, and the little detail that it'd happened only a few days ago.

"Well, somebody had to." 

_What a great liar you are. You would do it again in a fuckin' heartbeat._

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

> **Lily**

When the door opened ajar on thursday morning, and the creeking noise woke her up, Lily opened her eyes slowly, only to find out it'd been Katherine who'd woken her. "Lilianne, time for school." said the gentle and familiar voice, which she still felt like she had to get used to. It felt weird, having to accept and embrace the love that was being tossed her way every so often, from two people who she'd had to label as 'her parents'. It even felt more weird since she didn't have anyone to call mom or dad for the the biggest part of her life  _Or was that because she was scared to do so?_  The reason behind her whole rebellious behavior, to simply prevent those things from happening. 

Lily let out a yawn, and stretched her arms up in the air before finally getting out of bed. "I'll make you some breakfast." said Katherine with a gentle smile as she turned out again. Lily'd almost forgotten she'd been there. She couldn't help but show off a smile of her own before walking towards the bathroom to take a shower and prepare for the day.

***********************

 "Got myself a damn job." 

"You did?" 

It was lunch break, and the two of them were sitting outside. Lily looked down from at the apple in her hand back towards Daryl, who was inhaling from his cigarette. He seemed satisfied with himself, which made Lily feel happy.  _It's what he deserves,_  thought Lily to herself. Daryl scowled at a few cheerleaders and football players who were clearly talking about them; neither Lily or Daryl really cared. It seemed as if the whole school knew they were getting along quite well, and as always, there were idiots who liked to gossip. 

"Congratulations." said Lily, breaking the silence between them. Daryl looked back at her with a smirk. "Thanks, I guess. I'm doin' dem dishes at the diner outside Clayton." he replied, sounding as if he was in an actual good mood for once. Lily bit her lower lip for a brief moment. "What are you gonna do with the coin?" she wondered, genuinely interested. Even though they were working together, it still felt as if she didn't know that much about Daryl. Although she had to admit, they seemed to be growing closer towards one another. It actually made her feel as if she had a real friend, for the first time in her entire life. Sure, she had her girl friends, but they only seemed to be getting along with her because of her rebellious status and impulsive behavior. 

"Hell if I know. Gonn' get me a crossbow if I can. Shit's expensive's fuck, though." he rasped, while a little cloud of smoke came out between his lips. Lily nodded in reponse, despite the fact she was confused at his answer. _A crossbow?_  She found it a rather strange object to save money for, but she didn't bother to ask about it. There was no need to ruin his mood by questioning his desires. She felt happy for him, and about the fact he was actually going to have something of his own soon. Something that, apparently, would make him happy once he'd get it.

The rest of the day passed by in silence. Lily and Daryl worked an hour on their project, and Lily allowed her shell to crack a bit; she admitted she felt depressed often, just because. When Daryl asked her why, and Lily was happy he hadn't reacted by calling her pathetic like last time, she'd shrugged. Daryl had only nodded, and there'd been a long silence. After a while, Daryl had told her; "maybe it's because of yer, ya know, parents. 'Cuz ya don' know 'em." 

_It seemed a logical argument. Why have I never thought about that before?_

When Daryl and Lily walked towards the exit of the school building, Lily turned to Daryl. She cleared her throat and halted in her tracks. As soon as Daryl noticed, he turned around to look at her with careful curiousity. Lily looked down for a few seconds before focusing her attention back to Daryl. "Hey, listen.. I'm kinda throwin' a party this Saturday.. You should come." 

Silence. Lily tried to smile at him, as some sort of weak reassurement. Daryl seemed to notice and nodded. This invitation seemed to make him uncomfortable for some particular reason, and Lily couldn't help but think why. "I'll think about it," he eventually replied, with a tone of promise hinted in his words. 

***********************

 That evening, Lily sat on the couch, with a puzzled look on her face. Nerves were streaming up and down her body, as if there was some sort of inhumane liquid running in her veins. Sweat was forming on certain places on her body, and her tongue was somehow drying up, even though there was a glass of lemonade on the nearby coffee table. To occupy her own thoughts, she forced herself to concentrate on flipping her hair sideways, what ended up giving her a weird hairdo. She decided, to just let it to drop; to simply let go of the nervous feeling. Thus she sat still, ocassionally glancing into the kitchen and at her 'parents' who were just finishing up the dishes. She'd offered to help, but she'd already helped Katherine cook, and Dean was pro-equality in this household. It was a good thing, although Lily wished she'd have something to do to make the time pass by faster.

_It's cool, you're cool—get it together._

Various thoughts were still trying to get her body to stress out, though she tried her best not to give in to the familiar stinging feeling of fear. Instead, she told herself to calm down a few times before, especially when she heard the cupboards in the kitchen close which could only mean one thing; Katherine and Dean were finished doing the dishes.

Her suspicious feeling was confirmed once she heard the two of them entering the livingroom. They walked towards the couch that was opposite of the one she was currently sitting on, and they slowly say down aswell. They were calm and collected, and seemed rather curious than anything else about why she'd asked them to have a conversation with her after dinner. Perhaps they simply thought it was something about school, or something about the upcoming party on Saturday of which she'd already received permission to have it here in their home. Her parents would be gone for a little while to visit Katherine's parents a few cities away. It wasn't that far actually, but it was atleast a 5 hour drive from and to their destination.

Lily took a few deep breaths, trying to fit all the pieces of words together, to make it sound like a reasonable story. One that would make sense. One that would convince them to agree with her point of view. And perhaps, they'd understand.  _Maybe not now, but eventually_. Once they'd let it sink in. She honestly still had her doubts about that, and whether they'd understand her moral behind the entire story and all, but she tried to give those thoughts a rest.

She felt the two of them looking at her, practically piercing her skull, now that they finally seemed to realize it was something rather serious—she could read it in their eyes; _why are you behaving so nervously?_

She felt the slightest bit of guilt creeping into her bones, as if she was going to ruin this whole thing by saying one simple thing.  _Simple_ , she scoffed in thought as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Can I visit my father tomorrow?" 

It was her own voice she heard, but she had no memory of using it in the first place. A dead silence followed, as expected, and her parents' expression turned to shock once they'd allowed the words to settle in. They made eyecontact with eachother then, after minutes of silence. Both of them seemed to process Lily's request, and slowly but surely, their expressions softened to acceptation. Katherine was close to crying but she managed to show a limp smile. Dean nodded and cleared his throat. " _Okay_.." he said hoarsly. "Okay.." he repeated again, as if he was still trying to convince himself of his own answer.

Lily's eyes grew wide, and she quickly swallowed the lump down her throat, which had been there all day long. "Really? I mean—you're actually okay with it?  _Both of you?_  I mean I get it if you don't want me to, but I just feel like I have to do this. I just  _have_  to. I need answers." she rambled nervously, but then cutting herself off with an even more nervous chuckle.

It was true—once she'd found out there was a way to bug the system when it came to foster families and biological parents, she'd called her foster facility and asked for the address. They would call her back within a week or so, but to her surprise, they called back 2 hours later with the information. Turns out, her dad hadn't been that hard to find; he lived in Atlanta, which was a 3 hour drive from where she lived.

_But, perhaps he's moved without updating the system._

_Perhaps he's already dead._

"On one condition, though." said Dean at the sudden. Lily's thoughts snapped her back to reality and she nodded, awaiting his argument.

"I'm coming with you. No questions asked. I drive you there, stay with you. We're not letting you go all by yourself." continued Dean, with a neutral undertone. He then looked at Katherine, who simply nodded, biting her underlip as if she was still fighting back the tears.

"Alright." Lily finally said, slowly nodding again.

She had to know.

_And this was either going to make, or break her._

 


End file.
